The North West region is big. Big on colour, big on space and big on natural resources.

This vast region stretches along 1500 kilometres of blue coast from Kalbarri to Eighty Mile Beach and inland through the red earth outback communities of Newman, Marble Bar, Meekathara and beyond.

Iron ore and gas are the main drivers of the economy, and a significant percentage of the 60,000 or so people who live in the region work in these industries.

Tourism plays a key role in many of the coastal communities, with Exmouth and Coral Bay sitting on a 260-kilometre stretch of coral reef known as Ningaloo. The pastoral industry stretches from the coast to the edge of the desert, with cattle dominating the northern parts and sheep and goats to the south.

The region can be divided into three specific areas: the Pilbara, the Gascoyne and the Murchison.

Often touted as the engine room of the Australian economy, the Pilbara is experiencing a phase of growth that is being led by demand for natural resources from China. High-rise apartments and modern city-like conveniences are expected to bob up in the main towns of Karratha and Port Hedland in the coming years.

The Gascoyne region is named after WA's longest river, and the main service town of Carnarvon not only lies on a beautiful stretch of coast, but is home to a horticultural industry that is the envy of the rest of the North West.

Kalbarri is the main centre of the Murchison, sitting at the mouth of the Murchison River, a river that winds its way to the coast from near Meekathara and through some of the most sparsely populated areas on Earth.